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Catchment scale geostatistical simulation and uncertainty of soil erodibility using sequential Gaussian simulation

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Abstract

Soil erodibility (K) affects sediment delivery to streams and needs to be appropriately quantified and interpolated as a fundamental geographic variable for implementing suitable catchment management and conservation practices. The spatial distribution of K for erosion modelling at non-sampling grid locations has traditionally been estimated using interpolation algorithms such as kriging which do not adequately represent the uncertainty of estimates. These methods cause smoothing effects through overestimating the low values and underestimating the large values. In this study observed values were used to implement a sequential Gaussian simulation (SGS) procedure to evaluate the certainty of modelled data. Soil erodibility values were computed using 41 soil samples taken from the top 10 cm soil layer regularly distributed across four catchments, 367–770 ha in area, within Kangaroo River State forest, New South Wales (NSW). One hundred realisations were applied in the simulation process to provide spatial uncertainty and error estimates of soil erodibility. The results indicated that values simulated by the SGS algorithm produced similar K values for the neighbouring cells. At the pixel level, the SGS approach generated a reliable estimation of soil erodibility in most areas. Spatial variation of the K factor in this study was strongly related to soil landscape differences across the catchments; within catchments slope gradient did not have a substantial impact on the numerical values of the K factor using pixel-by-pixel comparisons of raster grid maps.

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Acknowledgments

The first author is grateful to Forestry Corporation of NSW (formerly Forests NSW) for supplementary financial support, and to Dr. Lisa Turner, Mr. Brad Jarrett and Mr. Tom Savage for their assistance during field surveys and laboratory analyses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geosciences F09, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia

    Reza Jamshidi & Deirdre Dragovich

  2. NSW Department of Primary Industries, Tamworth Agricultural Institute, 4 Marsden Park Rd, Calala, NSW, 2340, Australia

    Ashley A. Webb

  3. Australian Centre for Agriculture and Law, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, 2351, Australia

    Ashley A. Webb

Authors
  1. Reza Jamshidi
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  2. Deirdre Dragovich
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  3. Ashley A. Webb
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Correspondence to Reza Jamshidi.

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Jamshidi, R., Dragovich, D. & Webb, A.A. Catchment scale geostatistical simulation and uncertainty of soil erodibility using sequential Gaussian simulation. Environ Earth Sci 71, 4965–4976 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-013-2887-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-013-2887-9

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